FALL 2013 FEATURES

5 All-Americans

Winter 2012 | By William Meiners

We are all looking to age as best we can. College students, especially student athletes, seem to have a healthy head start. Several student-athletes within HHS have combined studies at a top-tier academic institution with the big-time competition of Big Ten sports. This Boilermaker quintet represents some of the best of the best. Shown here in Purdue’s historic Lambert Fieldhouse, Allie Smith and Stephen Schulz exemplify the ideal combination of scholastic and intercollegiate athletic success. Smith, a swimmer who earned a degree in pre-physical therapy in the School of Health Sciences in 2011, was the Big Ten’s female winner of the prestigious Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award last year. A two-time honorable mention All-American, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Academic All-Big Ten, and College Swimming Coaches Association of America All-Academic, Smith took those smarts to Washington University in St. Louis. She’s pursuing a master’s degree in physical therapy. Schulz, a junior cross country runner in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, has miles to go before he rests. In February 2011, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named him an Academic All-American.

Leah Eber (above), a senior studying apparel design and technology, is a sprinter and long jumper. She won both the Big Ten indoor and outdoor long jump titles in 2011. In August, she was named an Academic All-American by the USTFCCCA.

Late in 2011, Purdue linebacker Joe Holland, a senior in health and kinesiology (top right), was named a first-team Capital One Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Holland, who was recognized by the National Football Foundation as one of 16 national Scholar-Athletes, had a 3.96 cumulative grade-point average in movement and sport science. He was a second-team Academic All-American in 2010, in addition to being a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District V honoree. After his football playing days end, Holland plans to attend dental school.

For her performance on the course, golfer Maude-Aimee LeBlanc, a senior majoring in psychology (bottom right), was named first-team All-American by Golfweek and second-team All-American by the National Golf Coaches Association in her junior year. In 2010, she also earned the Mary Fossum Award for the lowest stroke average in the Big Ten and was a pivotal part of Purdue’s national championship golf team.

“My psychology classes have been most beneficial in making me a better student,” LeBlanc says. “What I have learned about memory and how to improve it has helped me in my class work, especially when preparing for tests. Of course golf requires practice and strong focus. I have learned the importance of positive self-talk and imagery and have enhanced my ability to shut everything else out when I’m on the golf course thanks to my major.”